Saved by the Bell is an American television teen sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series was produced by Peter Engel Productions and NBC Productions and aired from August 20, 1989 to May 22, 1993. Targeted at kids and teens, Saved by the Bell was broadcast in the United States on Saturday mornings, later as the flagship series in NBC's TNBC lineup. A reboot of the Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, the show follows a group of high school friends and their principal at the fictional Bayside High School in Los Angeles. Primarily focusing on lighthearted comedic situations, it occasionally touches on serious social issues, such as drug use, driving under the influence, homelessness, remarriage, death, women's rights, and environmental issues. The series starred Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies, Dennis Haskins, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Mario Lopez. The show spawned two spin-off series: Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993–1994), a primetime series that follows several of the characters to college, and Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993–2000), a Saturday morning series that follows a new group of students at Bayside High School. The series also spawned two TV movies, Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style in 1992 and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas in 1994. In later years, Saved by the Bell has been classified as educational and informational. The show was named one of the "20 Best School Shows of all Time" by AOL TV.
Characters
In casting Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Peter Engel knew the success of the show would not hinge on Miss Bliss herself, but on her students. Engel particularly envisioned one character, Zack Morris, who "would be that incorrigible kid who could lie to your face, letting you know very well that he's lying, and make you love him for it all the same." Engel insisted that the show could not go on without Zack Morris, but he turned out to be one of the most difficult characters to cast. Engel's casting director, Shana Landsburg, finally happened across fourteen-year old Mark-Paul Gosselaar and was immediately struck by the teen's charisma, charm, and good looks. After a quick read-through, Gosselaar was immediately given the role. After casting Zack Morris, the next character sought after was Morris's nerdy friend, Samuel "Screech" Powers. Gosselaar was asked to read through the script with a number of kids, and a second audition was scheduled for finalists. It was Gosselaar himself who insisted that Dustin Diamond was right for the part as he believed Diamond was Screech in real life. After reading through the script, Diamond was given the part, although Engel later found out that he had misread his head shot and Diamond was considerably younger than the rest of the cast—a fact that, had he been aware, might have prevented Engel from casting him. Lisa Turtle was originally conceived as a rich Jewish princess from Long Island, spoiled, materialistic, and obsessed with shopping. While still casting for the role, actress Lark Voorhies was brought into Engel's office, and he immediately knew she was perfect for the role despite the fact that it meant rewriting the character. The principal, Mr. Gerald Belding, as originally conceived on Good Morning, Miss Bliss, was an older, humorless man, and was played in the 1987 pilot by character actor Oliver Clark. After the show was retooled for Disney Channel, the character's first name was changed to Richard and he was recast, with Dennis Haskins ultimately winning the role. Mr. Belding was rewritten to be significantly younger and to have a much different sense of humor. When Good Morning, Miss Bliss was retooled as Saved by the Bell, four actors and their respective characters from the original series were brought over to the new series: Gosselaar, Diamond, Voorhies, and Haskins. The rest of the cast was fired, and Engel sought to replace them with new characters who would complement the old ones.
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